Good art in public places is one of the hallmarks of a great city. Here are images of sculptures, monuments, memorials, murals, reliefs, fountains and amenities at public places in Chicago... A Blog dedicated to the Sculpture Community of Chicago... Past, Present and Future...

This is one of the nation's most significant landmarks of African-American urban history .. Developed during the first decades of the 20th century, this "city-within-a-city" was home to numerous nationally prominent, African-American owned and operated businesses and cultural institutions. This district offered a commercial alternative to the race restrictions and indifference that characterized much of the city during the early part of the 20th century. Between 1910 and 1920, during the peak of the "Great Migration," the population of the area increased dramatically when thousands of African-Americans fled the oppression of the south and emigrated to Chicago in search of industrial jobs ..

Victory Monument .. Address: 35th Street and King DriveErected: 1927 by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the 54th General Assembly ..Bronze sculptures: Leonard CrunelleArchitect: John A. NydenDate Designated a Chicago Landmark: September 9, 1998 ..The structure was added to the National Register of Historic Places: April 30, 1986 ..# For more on .. Victory Monument .. click here ..

Haymarket Square Memorial..Captain with upraised arm, as a memorial to slain policemen..On the base are the words.."In the name of the people of Illinois I comman peace.."Location: Chicago Police HQ Building, 35th Street and Michigan Ave..

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

At the bottom of the bronze street map is inscriped .. Bronzeville: Depicted here are some of the geographic, cultural and historical features of this area - the "Black Metropolis" of Chicago. In the period after the First World War, an African American community of vitality and influence developed along these streets. The mixture of people here, since the late 19th Century and those drawn here during the Great Migration of the 20th Century, produced a new force in Black America: an urban home distinguished for its accomplishments in business, the arts, and community life. Particularly notable was the flowering of great music - jazz, blues, and gospel - that has enriched American culture from that time forward. Today, the Bronzeville legacy lives on in a community that looks with pride to its past and with confidence to it's future ..

A small section of the map .. showing the important historic and cultural institutions of the African American community .. with Illinois Central Railroad Station, Chess Records Studio, Chicago Defender, Quinn Chapel, Underground Railroad ..

Monday, September 28, 2009

Victory Monument Address: 35th Street and King DriveErected: 1927 by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the 54th General Assembly ..Bronze sculptures: Leonard CrunelleArchitect: John A. NydenDate Designated a Chicago Landmark: September 9, 1998 ..The structure was added to the National Register of Historic Places: April 30, 1986 ..

This structure was erected to honor the achievements of the Eighth Regiment of the Illinois National Guard, an African-American unit that served in France during World War I as part of the 370th U.S. Infantry ..

The bronze sculpture was made by Leonard Crunelle. He was born in France in a coal-mining town that was destroyed in World War I. He was a student of noted Chicago sculptor Lorado Taft. The granite column and architectural setting of the monument were a collaborative design of Crunelle and John Nyden, a Chicago architect ..

The original granite and bronze monument was erected in 1927. It was dedicated on Armistice Day [November 11th] in 1928 .. The soldier on top was added in 1936 and dedicated to all the Black soldiers who died in the war. It first state-sponsored memorial to African-American veterans of World War I .. The monument is the site of an annual Memorial Day ceremony.

The monument is a white granite shaft with four bronze relief panels .. and on the top is sculpture of a soldier .. These are:# African-American Soldier Panel # Victory Panel # Columbia Panel # Honor Roll of the Dead # The doughboy

African-American Soldier Panel ..A bare chested African-American soldier of the 370th Infantry, standing with an eagle in front of him ..

Columbia Panel .. Full-length Classically draped female figure with a helmet on her head. In her left hand she holds a tablet on which is inscribed with the names of battles in which African-American soldiers fought.

Honor Roll of the Dead ..Names of 137 members of the Eighth Infantry, Illinois National Guard, who lost their lives during World War I

The doughboy .. The statue atop the monument was added in 1936 .. the soldier is carrying an American Springfield rifle and wearing the standard U.S. Army helmet of 1917-18. However, the men of the 370th Infantry would more likely have been carrying the French Label rifle and wearing the French "Adrian" helmet in the actions in which they were engaged.

To the south of the monument is a flagpole that flies three flags ...United States flag, Municipal Flag of Chicago, POW/MIA flag.

Mary Brogger's design for The Recognition panels is based on a motif found in the stone relief carvings atop the Victory Monument. The pattern consists of a shield surrounded by a decorative acanthus vine with various icons commemorating aspects of Bronzeville's legacy.

The Victory Monument, with the stone relief carving from which the The Recognition Panels design is derived.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Bronzeville Obelisks..Six feet, 4,000 pound marker..Installed: Nov, 2009.. at what is considered the gateway of the Bronzeville neighborhood, near the campus of the Illinois Institute of Technology..

The obelisks are the brainchild of the late Senator Margaret Smith and Esther Barnett of the Bronzeville Merchants Association. Ten such obelisks are supposed to be installed, of which two have already been installed.. These obelisks are a joint effort by the Bronzeville Merchants Association, the State of Illinois, and the City of Chicago. These mark Bronzeville's rich cultural heritage and making the neighborhood a tourist destination.

In 1770, a Black Man, Jean Baptiste Pointe DuSable began trading goods with Native Americans. By 1840, Blcaks setteled in Chicago's, Black Metropolis", now known as Bronzeville.

State Street was the shopping district of black-owned businesses such as drug stores, barber shops, flower shops, tailor shops, meat markets, millinery shops, fruit stands, theaters and restaurants. A "city within a city"..

This area known as the "stroll" was home to Motto's Perkin Theater, a precursor to many clubs like the Royal Gardens. Walter T. Bailey, the first black architect, designed the Jordan Building, a novel storefront structure with residential space above..

Black owned and operated businesses including Provident Hospital, and were also elected to public offices. Black architects designed and built residential and commercial structures. Musicians, artists and writers gave voice to Bronzeville culture. James "Jimmy" Gentry, a Chicago bee and Chicago Defender newsman developed the bronze-beauty pageant which gave rise to the name "Bronzeville". the Great Migration caused Bronzeville black population to rise to over hundred thousand by 1920..

Bronzeville spawned many political leaders including the honorable Harold Washington, the first elected Black mayor of Chicago. Ada S. McKinley Community Services is named after Mrs. McKinley, an educator who started settlement house to help Black soldiers and their families. Later she developed programs and services to help young women with their domestic skills...

About Me

All the images in this blog and my other blogs, have been produced by me. See and enjoy the images. But please do not use or reproduce any of these images without written permission.
Contact at: jyoti[at]lensimpressions[dot]net